Space Invaders was extremely popular in the days of the Atari. It was just about the best game out there. It remains a well-known game today. Everybody has heard of it, if not seen it or played it. Earlier this year TAITO Corporation brought this classic to the iPhone with their release of Space Invaders (iTunes) in the iTunes App Store. Last week they released Space Invaders Infinity Gene. This new updated version takes Space Invaders to a whole new level. The premise of the game is the same, destroy the invading aliens and save the Earth. The progression of the game is all new.

As you complete levels and earn points, the game evolves, and while every player faces the same levels in the same order, the game will be different for each player. At the end of each level that you complete, the points that you earn are added to your Evolution Gauge. If you have earned enough points to fill the gauge, you will earn an evolution. Evolutions can come in many forms. Some give you new weapons, others unlock parts of the options menu, and others upgrade your ships abilities. Some evolutions are earned by simply completing a certain level and unlock another stage to play. Some evolutions are more helpful than others. So, depending on which levels you complete, and which level you are on when you fill the Evolution Gauge, you earn different evolutions. The evolutions create branches off the main trunk of the menu that contains the levels.

Actually playing the game is easy, at least in the beginning. Your ship defaults to an auto fire setting. You can turn the auto fire off, but with unlimited ammo, why would you? So, your job is to move the ship around by placing your finger on the screen and moving back and forth. You start the game with three ships in your stock. Each time you run into an enemy ship or get hit by an enemy shot, you lose one of your ships. When all three are gone, the game is over. Not to worry, though. The game data is saved and you can start again at the beginning of the level that you were playing.

To clear a level, you just need to destroy all the enemies. Easier said than done. In this version of Space Invaders, the aliens are not limited to little ships, and their ammo is not limited to little bombs that drop on you. Quite often, it seems like there are shots being fired from every direction and ships flying everywhere. It takes a lot of concentration to keep from getting hit by anything.

Space Invaders Infinity Gene is a challenging game with endless possibilities. It is a great rendition of an old classic that is sure to provide hours and hours of game play.

You move your ship around in this game by dragging it with your finger. I found it much easier to keep my ship from getting hit if my finger was not directly over the ship itself. Try keeping your finger just below your ship so that you can see it better.

If you get stuck and the levels seem to be getting too hard, go back and play some easier levels to rack up some points. A couple of evolutions may be all that you need to get past a tough spot.

There are evolutions that allow you to have more ships in your stock and change other options in the menu. High scores, however, will only be recorded for games played at normal difficulty and with only 3 ships in your stock.

If you want to start the game over, you can reinitialize the game. However, once you do so, the data for you game play cannot be retrieved.